


the variant | dreamsmp

by pumpk7m



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Blood Vines | The Crimson | The Egg, DreamSMP magic/timeloop AU, Fluff, It's happening, Nightmares, Ranboo Needs a Hug (Video Blogging RPF), dream isn't evil i promise, i finally wrote a dreamsmp fanfic, take it you feral gremlins, why is there no tag for BBH or Skeppy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 18:49:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29987286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pumpk7m/pseuds/pumpk7m
Summary: Everything in Ranboo's little town is the same. The sun shines, the wind blows, the trees grow, and Tommy screams about his pet moth, Clementine.Maybe it's a little too similar to last year.A DreamSMP AU where Ranboo, Tubbo, and Tommy are stuck in a time loop and have to save the world (with magic, of course).
Relationships: Alexis | Quackity/Karl Jacobs/Sapnap, Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo & Toby Smith | Tubbo & Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson
Comments: 19
Kudos: 52





	1. one

**Author's Note:**

> take this attempt at writing Ranboo. i've been very excited about this for a while

**Ranboo**

Sunlight streamed through the cream-colored shades on Tommy’s bedroom window, bathing the room in golden morning light. Ranboo cracked an eye open, his brain protesting feebly as he drowsily sat up, blinking slowly. 

He grabbed the corner of Tubbo’s green blanket (a constant resident of the ‘Innit Cave’ as Tommy called it) and set it to the side, slightly tucking it closer to his friend’s sleeping form. 

Tubbo snored peacefully next to Tommy on his right, their arms entangled from the result of a late night race to the bathroom and back. Crumpled cans of Coke (caffeine free!) and empty candy wrappers littered the carpet. Ranboo reached over and plucked the shell of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup from where it was stuck in Tommy’s hair. He shifted in his sleep, but didn’t wake.

Ranboo tossed the wrapper into a waste bin and stood up, stretching his arms over his head with a grunt. How much sleep had he gotten? Two hours? That had to be a record, Tommy usually insisted that they pull all-nighters during sleepovers. Though Phil had been home this time, so there was no way for the trio to sneak downstairs and raid his and Wilbur’s ‘Coffee Cabinet’ in search of caffeine.

Rubbing his eyes, Ranboo pulled the curtains over the window to better block out some light. Tommy would be mad at Ranboo later for not waking him up, he knew, but Tommy needed as much sleep as he could get. Having his friends nearby seemed to ward away the nightmares, and Wilbur wasn’t always available. Ranboo had asked what Tommy dreamed about, but he always refused to tell him. Eventually, he stopped asking. Tommy’s privacy was important, after all. 

If he strained his ears, Ranboo could hear the soft sounds of footsteps and quiet, murmuring voices in the kitchen below. Phil must be awake already. His stomach rumbled. 

He hopped over Tubbo and Tommy and glided silently down the staircase. Everyone told him the way he walked was weird, too smooth, freaky--Ranboo couldn’t help but agree. He was clumsy with everything else, but not walking. His mouth watered as the scent of bacon wafted through the air. 

Phil was sitting on the couch, reading a book. He looked up and smiled when he heard Ranboo enter. “Good morning!”

“Good morning,” Ranboo replied, smiling back. Wilbur, who proved to be cooking the source of the bacon-smell in a skillet, chimed in with a greeting as well. 

“Are the problem children still asleep?”

Ranboo nodded, taking a seat at the kitchen counter so he could watch Wilbur cook. “At least, they were when I left. Where’s Techno?”

“He’s gone on an ‘important mission,’” said Wilbur with air quotes. “Normally I’d be upset, but, you know,” he pushed a piece of meat into the center of the frying pan, eliciting a loud sizzle, “-bacon.”

As much of a tough guy/anarchist as Technoblade-Tommy’s eldest sibling-was, the one thing he absolutely refused to do was eat anything that came from a pig. Ranboo didn’t know why- Techno was far from a vegetarian. Maybe he just really liked pigs. He  _ had _ dyed his hair pink two summers ago. 

“The important mission is grocery shopping,” Phil explained, setting his book down in his lap. “He’s just overly dramatic.”

“And Tommy takes after him,” Ranboo mumbled. Both Wilbur and Phil laughed. 

“STOP STEALING MY SHIT YOU SON OF A BITCH,” floated down from upstairs, followed by a lot of thumping. 

“Looks like they’re awake,” said Phil, picking up his book back up. He was all too used to Tommy’s morning rambunctiousness to be bothered. After six years of friendship, you’d think Ranboo would be too, but Tommy always surprised him with his energy, especially after having a bad dream. 

“MORNING WILBUR MORNING PHIL MORNING RANBOO,” Tommy shouted as he bounded down the stairs and dashed out of the wooden side door. Tubbo followed shortly after, yawning. 

“Hey,” Ranboo greeted him. 

“M-m-m-morning,” said Tubbo, yawning again. He took a seat next to Ranboo at the counter. “Hello Wilbur, hello Phil.”

“Clementine is still alive!” announced Tommy triumphantly, the side door that led to Techno’s potato farm slamming shut behind him. He reached around Wilbur and stole a piece of bacon from the pan, grinning when his older brother gave him an annoyed look. 

“How much money do I owe you now?” sighed Tubbo. He and Tommy had a running bet that Tommy’s pet moth, Clementine, would die, and it was nearly the end of August. Ranboo didn’t really understand the Minecraft family’s weird, overly complicated betting rules, but Tubbo did, and Tommy took every opportunity he could to start new ones with lots of rules all the time. Tubbo had...lost? This bet? 

Ranboo really didn’t know. 

“You can just buy Ranboo and I ice cream,” said Tommy. “We’re going out today. It’s the last day of summer and we deserve it.”

Ranboo would miss summer. School was tough, especially with his memory problems. Heck, it was tough for all of them. Tommy was constantly sent to the principal’s office by his teachers for rowdy behavior (Techno got him out of detention, usually. Sometimes it was Wilbur) and Tubbo got made fun of in the few classes he didn’t have with Tommy or Ranboo. They always made sure to give the bullies a good tussle, though- Tommy did most of the tussling, Ranboo was just there for intimidation factor since he was the tallest in the class. 

“Ugh,” Tubbo whined, pressing his forehead against the table. “I don’t wanna go back to schoooooool.”

“Cheer up, Tubso,” said Tommy, ruffling his hair. “It means me n’ Ranboo will get to beat the shit out of people.” He shot Ranboo a wicked grin. 

Ranboo sighed. “I was hoping we could keep the beating-the-shit-out-of-people thing to a minimum this year.”

“Sometimes you just gotta fight bitches,” said Wilbur with the air of a great poet, setting down plates of toast and bacon in front of each boy. He’d given Ranboo white bread instead of wheat and it made his heart swell with gratitude. A bit after, the familiar ache of longing followed it. He practically lived at Tommy’s house, but it didn’t stop him from feeling like an outsider at times. He’d give  _ anything  _ to be a part of the Minecraft family. 

“Really well said, Wil,” Phil snorted over the top of his book. 

Tommy, who was snarfing down bacon at lightning speed, paused. “What’re you reading, Phil?”

Phil looked up and Ranboo thought he saw something flash in his cerulean eyes before he shut the book with a snap. 

“Nothing important,” he said calmly. “Plate me some bacon, Wil, would you? I’ll make coffee.”

As usual, Tommy asked for some, and as usual, Phil refused, saying he already acted highly caffeinated all the time. Tubbo picked up a piece of bacon from Ranboo’s plate and ate it. Ranboo flicked him in the forehead. 

He watched as Phil and Wilbur argued good-naturedly with Tommy, the fondness in their expression not matching their words, and the ache grew. It was moments like these, where Tubbo went to pull Tommy off of Wilbur, when Phil chuckled warmly as he sipped his coffee, when a gentle breeze floated in through the half-open window over the sink, that Ranboo longed for a functioning family of his own. But after today, he would return home to an empty, hot, dark house, alone, sweating and thirsty because his dad always sent the money for the water and electricity bills too late. 

Tubbo frowned at him. “You can have some of my bacon, I’m sorry-”

“No, it wasn’t that,” Ranboo reassured him quickly. “It’s just...It’s nothing.”

Tubbo didn’t look like he believed him, but didn’t press Ranboo to explain. 

“FUCK YOU, BITCH,” bellowed Tommy, srutggling to escape Wilbur’s arms as he tried to prevent him from reaching the coffee grounds. Ranboo snorted a laugh, grateful for the momentary distraction.

“You three should get going,” said Phil, dodging a kick from one of Tommy’s flailing legs. “It’s going to get too hot to do anything later.”

Tubbo nodded and hopped off of his chair. Grabbing his plate, Ranboo did the same, and stacked Tubbo’s empty one on top of it.

Wilbur finally let go of Tommy, who muttered something that sounded suspiciously like “fuck you” and took the plates from Ranboo, placing them in the sink. Tubbo turned on the tap and lightly rinsed them off. 

That little routine was another thing Ranboo loved- all three of them working together without having to think, like they really were a family and not just a short soft kid, a gremlin, and a guy referred to by his classmates as “The Silent Giant.”

Ranboo would never forgive them for that. 

“Let’s go already,” Tommy insisted, batting away Phil’s hand, which was trying to comb through his bedhead. 

Tubbo and Ranboo followed him out of the door, through Techno’s potato farm. He stopped in front of a wooden cage that hung from the branches of an old pine tree, proudly showing them the contents.

“See? She’s still alive.”

Clementine the moth flitted around inside, coming to rest of one of the horizontal bars closest to Tubbo. 

“I’m surprised,” said Ranboo truthfully. “I really thought you’d like...lose her. Or kill her by accident.”

Tommy made a noise of indignation and Tubbo laughed, stretching out his finger towards Clementine. Surprisingly, she didn’t move away. 

“Ay, ay, ay!” said Tommy loudly. “No touching her. I won’t have you sabotaging my pet-”

“I’m not touching her! I just wanted a look!”  
“Look with your _eyes,_ Tubbo, last I checked you couldn’t use your fingers to see-”

“Guys,” Ranboo interrupted. Tommy and Tubbo froze, eyes travelling to the cage. 

Clementine had escaped. 

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”   
  


\--

It had been hot in town. No, hot wasn’t the right word. More like sweltering. Boiling. Baking. Ranboo flicked his chestnut bangs off of his sweaty forehead, staring dejectedly at his empty ice cream cone. He’d finished it way too quickly. Tommy hadn’t even ceased complaining about losing the bet before he’d eaten the entire thing. 

Tubbo swung his legs back and forth over the edge of his porch, humming softly. Tommy sat in between him and Ranboo, taking loud crunches of his waffle cone. The sun was beginning to set, but the heat remained like a blanket, coating everything and everyone with a layer of exhaustion. 

“My dad wants me to focus on school more this year,” said Tubbo suddenly, breaking the comfortable silence. 

“He says that every year,” Tommy replied, rolling his eyes, Tubbo nodded, but he didn’t seem comforted. 

“What’s wrong?” asked Ranboo. “Was he mean about it?”

“No,” said Tubbo slowly. He had an okay relationship with his parents, but things got rocky sometimes. “It’s like...he says that  _ every  _ year.”

Tommy blinked. “Yeah, that’s what I said.”

“No, I mean,” Ranboo could see that Tubbo was getting frustrated, so he handed him his cone. Tubbo took a bite. “Isn’t it weird? That nothing ever changes?”

It took a minute for Ranboo’s brain to comprehend the words. Sure, nothing really happened in their little town, but things still changed, didn’t they? 

“Tubbo,” said Tommy. “What do you mean?”

“Isn’t it odd how you always have to fight a bully on the first day of school? And how you still get called that nickname, Ranboo?” Tubbo took another bite of the cone. 

Huh? Ranboo just thought that the bullies never quit, and that his classmates were just annoying, but-

“The bullies are just dickheads who don’t know when to quit,” Tommy said, voicing Ranboo’s thoughts, but even he sounded concerned. 

“Where is all this coming from?” asked Ranboo, quietly. 

Tubbo shut his eyes and took a deep breath. He opened them- “Can you two remember anything that happened before, like, March of this year?”

March? Sure he could. In April, he’d...wait. Ranboo cast about in his mind for something the three of them did together, a sleepover, a lake day, even a math test, but found nothing. It was as if there was a great big wall blocking his mind from the memories. But that was a problem he always had, right? It was never this…large, though.

“That’s just me, right?” Ranboo said, finally. Tubbo shook his head, hands crushing the cone to powder. Ranboo glanced at Tommy. Surely-

Tommy gave a barely noticeable shake of his head. He looked tense, like he did when he was about to spring in to fight someone. 

“What...is this?” Ranboo whispered. His voice sounded scared, and he hated it. 

“I have no idea,” Tubbo murmured back. “But I have to show you guys something.”

He got up and stood, holding out a hand to Tommy. He took it and pulled Ranboo up with his other hand. 

Ranboo said a polite hello to Tubbo's cat, Bee, while he and Tommy waited for him to come back from his room. When he returned, he was holding a battered-looking composition notebook. The title, which used to read “Biology 2” had been crossed out and replaced with “How to Sex 2.”  
“Why is it called-” Ranboo started, but stopped. That was _Tommy’s_ handwriting. 

“Let’s go back outside. I don’t want my parents to hear.”

Once they were all seated, he flipped open the front cover. 

THIS BOOK BELONGS TO

BIG MAN INNIT tubbo :D Ranboo

Ranboo stared at the page in disbelief. He didn’t remember writing this. But there his name was, inked with his favorite red pen. 

“I found it in the shed,” Tubbo explained. “It was wedged inside a rain boot.”

“Like someone was trying to hide it,” Tommy muttered. “If this is your idea of some kind of prank, Tubbo-”

“It’s not,” Tubbo said immediately. “Why would I prank you two? This is serious. Why don’t any of us remember writing in here?”

Ranboo was at a loss for words. Had his own memory problems somehow transferred to his friends? No, that wasn’t possible- that was stupid, that was…

“Is there anything else in there?” Tommy asked. He sounded like he was trying to keep his voice calm. Tubbo flipped a page. 

it doesn’t make any sense. where did this book come from?  march 3

WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS. WHY IS TUBBO’S HANDWRITING IN HERE. DO YOU HEAR ME? DON'T PUT CREEPY ASS BOOKS UNDER MY BED MARCH 3

Tubbo and Tommy never mentioned anything about a book. Maybe I’ve just forgotten it. I’ll show you guys this tomorrow.  March 3

have i written in here before? was i sleepwalking or something? march 3

OKAY THIS IS FUCKED UP. I’M TEMPTED TO FUCKING BURN THIS SHIT.  MARCH 3

Uh… March 3

“And that’s where it ends,” said Tubbo “Obviously there was a pattern, and after Ranboo’s time to find the book it’s mine.”

What did this  _ mean? _

“But it’s not March 3rd, like all the entries say,” Tommy protested. 

“That’s why I’m more worried than I would be if this was just a book we couldn’t remember writing in.” Tubbo’s brow was creased in distress. “One, we couldn’t have all written them on the same day, which means that each entry is written a year apart. That’s  _ six years.  _ Six years we don’t remember doing anything. And two…” he paused. “Yeah, that’s all I got.”

“The...the biggest issue is that you found the book on a day that wasn’t March 3rd,” said Ranboo, trying to keep a level and clear head. “Something’s changed.”

“But look,” Tommy pointed at Ranboo’s first entry. “You wrote that you would tell us. If this was just about a fucking  _ book  _ then we’d remember talking about it.”

“This is so weird,” Ranboo groaned, burying his head in his hands. 

“Guys,” said Tubbo in a small voice.

“Shut up for a second,” Tommy snapped, jumping to his feet. He began to pace. “Something shitty and realky fuckin’ odd is going on here and I don’t like it.”

“Guys,” said Tubbo, a bit louder this time. 

“What can we do about it?” Ranboo said. “We’re just kids. And we don’t actually know  _ what  _ it is-”

“We can shank whoever’s responsible, that’s what-”

“GUYS!” 

Ranboo and Tommy turned to Tubbo. 

“Someone’s there,” he whispered, tugging’s Tommy’s arm towards the dirt road across from the porch. Amongst the clouds of dust that unfurled behind a passing truck, a tall figure stepped forwards. If Ranboo squinted, he could see a cape billowing behind the figure and the outline of a boar mask. 

“Who is that?” asked Ranboo. The figure kept advancing. Tubbo shrank back behind him and Tommy. 

“Run,” said Tommy, in such an uncharacteristic tone that Ranboo nearly gave himself whiplash turning to look at him. 

He ran.

If it weren’t for Ranboo’s long legs, he’d be much farther behind Tommy and Tubbo- they were  _ fast.  _ Sweat poured down his forehead and into his eyes. Branches clawed at his arms. Was the boar guy gone? Should he turn and look?

“DON’T TOUCH HIM?”

Oh god. Oh  _ god.  _ The figure was  _ right there,  _ holding a sword glowing with some kind of energy. Tommy was standing protectively in front of Tubbo. 

Ranboo couldn’t move.

How--how had they gotten in front? Ranboo hadn’t seen--what--he couldn’t--

He saw the figure shift their sword to their other hand--they were going to strike--they were going to hurt  _ his friends his his his hishishisHIS- _

He didn’t think. He moved. 

“Ranboo!”

“C’mon, man...wake up, please-”

A bout of coughs was what returned him to reality- Tommy and Tubbo were looking at him worriedly from above. The dirt was cool against his skin. Ranboo blinked, once, twice- had the canopy overhead always been so green? He managed to sit up.

“Where…” he coughed again, and Tubbo placed a hand on his back. “Where are we? Where’s…”

Ranboo looked around for any sign of the figure in the mask, but they were nowhere to be seen. “...What happened?”

Tommy and Tubbo shared a look.

“Uh, well,” said Tubbo tentatively. “We’re not exactly sure.”

“One minute we’re about to be fuckin’ stabbed by a pig dude and the next we’re here,” Tommy added. “And it’s not hot anymore.”

Ranboo stood up, leaning on Tubbo for support. The air felt crisp, not cold enough to be uncomfortable, but not too warm either--and it was so clean that Ranboo couldn’t believe the tiny town he lived in could make such an impact on the air. 

“Do you think we’re anywhere close to home?” he asked. Tubbo shook his head. 

“These types of trees aren’t like anything I’ve ever seen around my house or Tommy’s. Plus, I can just...feel it.”

So many weird things had happened in the last half an hour that Ranboo didn’t even question Tubbo’s weird gut feeling. Wherever they’d ended up was really pretty, though. The green of the leaves and rich brown of the soil were like something out of a picture book. 

“How are…” Ranboo swallowed. ‘How are we going to get back?”

Silence. Eventually, Tommy heaved a sigh. “We don’t know.”

Ranboo didn’t have anything to say to that, so he stood quietly by his friends’ sides, watching the sun disappear behind the tips of the trees. Tubbo had been right--Ranboo hadn’t ever seen any trees quite like them. Each one had a twisty, gnarled trunk and star-shaped leaves. When the light of the sunset hit them, they looked as if they’d been dipped in liquid gold. 

“It’s gorgeous,” Ranboo whispered, despite himself. Tommy grunted, as if to say “I’m mad at these dumb trees because we’re lost in them, but I agree.”

“We should sleep,” Tubbo said, once the last rays of the sun had gone. “We can...try to find a way back tomorrow.”

His voice didn’t have an ounce of hope in it. Ranboo couldn’t blame him. They were alone without food, without water, without shelter. 

He fell into a fitful sleep, there on the ground, dreaming of grass and men with masks and the stars. 


	2. two

Ranboo groaned, and sat up. Warm light hit his face and he yawned. The forest floor hadn’t been that uncomfortable, actually. He’d slept pretty well-

What the  _ hell? _

He stared at Tubbo’s green blanket, wrapped around him exactly like it had been yesterday. The Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Wrapper was still stuck in Tommy’s hair. There were still Coke cans on the floor. 

He was back in Tommy’s room. 

Ranboo looked down at his fingers. They were trembling. 

He checked the time on his watch. It read 00:00. 

Voices, from downstairs. Phil? Wilbur? Did they know? 

Ranboo tiptoed downstairs. There Wilbur was, frying bacon on the stove. Phil was sitting in the exact same spot, reading his book. He smiled when he saw Ranboo. 

“Good morning!”

“Uh... good morning, Phil,” Ranboo said slowly, cautiously inching towards the counter. He sat down, and Wilbur tossed the pan. 

“Are the problem children still asleep?” Wilbur asked,  _ exactly  _ like yesterday, and Ranboo blinked at him for a few seconds before nodding. 

Should he go along with them? What had he asked the day before? 

“Where’s Techno?” Ranboo said after a moment.

“He’s gone on an ‘important mission,’” said Wilbur with air quotes. God, this was  _ weird. _ “Normally I’d be upset, but, you know,” he pushed a piece of meat around in the pan “-bacon.”

“The important mission is grocery shopping,” added Phil. “he’s just overly dramatic.”

Ranboo couldn’t bring himself to reply.

“Ranboo?” 

Tubbo and Tommy, both looking equally frightened, peered at him from the top of the staircase. 

“One second,” Ranboo said to Wilbur, who saluted him. He bounded up the steps and herded the both of them back into Tommy’s room, shutting the door with a click. 

“What the hell is this-”

“Ranboo, are you-”

“I don’t know,” Ranboo whispered, running his hand through his hair. “I don’t know anything.”

Tommy flicked the candy wrapper from his hair and nudged it with his toe when it fell onto the carpet. “I don’t like this.”

“I know I said something weird was going on, with that book and everything, but this is way weirder,” said Tubbo. “Weren’t we in that forest? Or was I dreaming?”

“I don’t think we were dreaming,” said Ranboo. “It felt real.”

Tommy scowled and crossed his arms. “If we’re coming up with a plan, I vote we shank people.”

“What could we even plan for?” Ranboo asked.

“Fighting?” said Tubbo slowly. “But why did we end up back here?”

Ranboo looked out of the window. “Are either of your watches working?”

Tommy shook his head. Tubbo checked, and did the same. 

“Then this has something to do with time, doesn’t it?”

“Whaddya mean, time?”

“I mean,” said Ranboo, crossing the room to sit cross-legged on Tommy’s bed- “When I went downstairs to see if Phil and Wil were down there, they were. But it was the same as yesterday.”

“Huh?” asked Tubbo. 

“Like, they said the  _ exact  _ same things they said yesterday morning, when I woke up,” Ranboo explained. “And remember that book? With the six years we don’t remember doing anything? What if it was a sort of...like a loop? Like we’re repeating the same day over and over.”

“But wouldn’t we remember that?” Tubbo said. “We remember the past years, but nothing before that. That’s different.”

“This is dumb,” said Tommy. Ranboo noticed he’d suddenly gone very pale. He laced and un-laced his fingers together. “This is stupid. It’s probably just Techno roping Philza and Wilbur into a prank.”

“It’s a pretty elaborate prank to pull off, considering we were in a forest nowhere near here last night,” said Ranboo. Tommy just shook his head, a bit frantically. 

“No, no,” he said. “It’s not real. It can’t be. This is all just some misunderstanding and everything’s fine. It’s all fine.”

“Tommy?” Tubbo asked, worried. 

“I’m fine, it’s fine, everything’s fine,” Tommy babbled, eyes darting here, there, everywhere, not focusing on one place long enough before flicking away. He twisted his fingers together, violently, and Ranboo reached over and separated his hands. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” he said softly. Tommy didn’t relax. “We’re going to figure out what to do. You and me and Tubbo.”

“But I  _ saw  _ this,” Tommy choked out. He squeezed his eyes shut. “I  _ saw it. _ ”

“Saw what?” asked Tubbo. 

“When I have the fuckin’--the  _ nightmares, _ ” Tommy whispered. “It’s  _ this.  _ Stuck in a loop forever and ever and there’s red, so much red, it covers- its covers  _ everything  _ and I watch you and Ranboo and Phil and Wilbur and Techno get covered by the vines and I can’t do anything and when it’s done and you’re  _ gone  _ it starts all over like nothing’s wrong but there  _ is, and I can’t get out-” _

“It’s okay,” murmured Ranboo, interrupting him. He gave Tommy’s hands a squeeze. If only to break him from his feverish muttering, Tubbo padded over and wrapped his green blanket around each of their shoulders.   
What Tommy really needed right now was Wilbur, Ranboo thought- Wilbur always knew how to calm Tommy down, was always the shoulder he had to cry on, but Wilbur wouldn’t understand. They were alone. 

Was anyone else here real?

No, he had to stop thinking like that. He had to be strong, for Tommy. For Tubbo. He would get them out of this. He would find a way out. He had to. 

Ranboo gripped Tommy’s hands, and spoke in the most confident voice he could. “It’s going to be alright, Tommy. You’re safe with us. We’re not going anywhere.”

Tommy took a deep breath. In. Out. “Right. Right.”

Ranboo gently set Tommy’s hands in his lap before heaving a deep breath. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No,” said Tommy immediately, shaking his head. “...Not yet.”

“That’s okay.”

“I think this has something to do with the book,” offered Tubbo into the silence. “Since we found it on the wrong day. Maybe whoever put us here meant for us to find it on March 3rd, but we didn’t, so we screwed everything up. Like a glitch or something.”

“That’s a bit of a stretch,” said Ranboo after a moment. “We don’t know if we were put here on purpose or if it’s something going on with the entire universe.”

“So what do we do?” Tommy asked, clearing his throat. Color had returned to his cheeks. “Do we just sit here and wait?”

“We should...we should check to make sure the time loop thing is real, first,” Ranboo said. “See if everything’s the same.”

“Clementine!” Tubbo exclaimed. 

“What about her? She’s  _ dead, _ ” Tommy deadpanned. 

“No, I mean- maybe she’s alive! That’s the best way to check, isn’t it?”

Tommy gaped at him. After a few seconds he vaulted up off the bed, threw open the door, and dashed downstairs, shouting “CLEMENTINEEEEEE” the whole way down. 

“You think he’s okay now?” Tubbo mumbled as he and Ranboo followed. 

“I don’t think any of us are okay,” Ranboo replied, under his breath. “But yeah. He seems a little better.”

“I hope he’ll open up at some poi-”

“SHE’S ALIVE! SHE’S ALIVEEEEEEEE!”

There Tommy was, standing in front of Clementine’s cage, laughing like some kind of evil mad scientist. “Look! Look!” he yelled once he saw Ranboo. He peered into the cage. “Hey, there, Clementine. How are you?”

“Don’t get too excited, Tommy. If this goes like yesterday-”

“She’s gone,” wailed Tommy. Tubbo slapped a hand over his eyes and sighed. “Man, I really wish I could fall to my knees and have a giant amount of power flow out of me and destroy everything right now.”

“So it’s confirmed,” said Tubbo quietly, ignoring him- “It’s the same day.”

“And it’s not a prank,” Ranboo clarified. 

“What do we do now?” Tommy crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. “Die and see if we come back to life like that one movie?”

“Too risky,” said Ranboo at once. “If something’s wrong with time then we could actually die. I wouldn’t try that.”

“Aw, man,” Tubbo said. Ranboo turned to look at him in disbelief. “Kidding! Just kidding. I was kidding.”

“The book?” offered Tommy. “We should see if the book is still in your shed, Tubbo.”

“Good idea,” Ranboo agreed. “Let’s go.”

“Are you three going out?” called Phil from inside. 

“Yeah,” Tommy replied.

“It’s gonna get hot soon, so enjoy it while it lasts!”

“We will!” said Tubbo, grabbing Ranboo and Tommy’s arms and hauling them off. “Bye!”

“Wha- hey, man!” Tommy squirmed. “What’s your problem?”

“I don’t want to drag anyone else into this,” Tubbo told him. “We shouldn’t upset them.”

Ranboo couldn’t help but agree. Obviously, Wilbur and Phil didn’t weren’t aware of the fact that this was the same day. It would only upset them. But as he trudged through the scalding pavement in Tubbo’s wake, baking in the muggy heat, he couldn’t help but wish there was an adult around to help them. 

They were just kids, after all.

“Here,” Tubbo said, sliding open the shed door. It’s hinges squeaked and Ranboo winced. He beckoned them inside, coming to a stop in front of a pair of old Wellington boots, caked with mud. 

“Inside?” asked Tommy. He reached into one and came up empty handed- with a “fuckin’ hell” he tried the other, and pulled out the notebook. Ranboo was relieved to see it still read “How To Sex 2.”

Tommy flipped the book open, while Tubbo kicked the boots out of the way and sat down. Ranboo crouched down to look over his shoulder. Everything was still there. 

“So the book is here,” said Tubbo after the three of them had gotten a look at it. “...Now what?”

“We see if the boar person shows up,” Tommy replied. Ranboo shuddered. His previous encounter with the masked figure hadn’t been a pleasant one. 

“But what about that clearing? Shouldn’t we go back to it?” he asked. Tubbo and Tommy had some sort of silent conversation with their eyes. 

“We don’t know the way back,” said Tubbo. 

“We think you teleported us there,” Tommy elaborated. 

Ranboo gaped at them. Teleport? Was that what had happened? No, that couldn’t be possible. Teleporting wasn’t real, it would never be real. And there was no way  _ he  _ of all people could do it. 

_ If time loops are real, why can’t that be?  _ A small part of his mind pushed. Ranboo batted it away. That was crazy, that was wrong, that was…

“It’s fine, big man, we don’t know for sure,” Tubbo said. 

“Yeah,” Ranboo said, but he couldn’t keep the strain from his voice. “Yeah. Maybe it was just part of this loop.”

_ THUD.  _

“...What was that?”

Tommy banged his fists against the now closed shed door. “HEY!! WHAT THE HELL, YOU BASTARD?!”  
“What’s going on?” Tubbo shouted over Tommy’s yelling and several loud _thumps_ from outside. 

“I don’t know!” Ranboo called back. “Uh, whoever you are? Can you let us out?”

“THAT’S NOT GONNA WORK, RANBOO!” Tommy bellowed, kicking the door with each shout. “YOU’VE--GOT TO--KILL EM!”

“We’re stuck inside a  _ shed,  _ we can’t kill whoever’s out there-” Tubbo said, trying to pull Tommy away from the door. Ranboo searched frantically for a way out, but the only thing he found was a small vent, and it was much too tiny for any of them to fit through, even Tubbo. 

Could he teleport them out? No, that wasn’t what had happened, he needed to stop thinking like he was some kind of superhero. It wasn’t  _ real.  _

...But could he trigger it somehow? 

_ THUMP. _

Ranboo almost laughed out loud. This was  _ absurd,  _ this was  _ crazy-  _ he  _ actually  _ thought he could teleport for a second there. Ridiculous. 

“RANBOO! TELEPORT US OUT OF HERE!”  
Tommy latched onto his arm, tugging frantically. “You know I’m claustrophobic, please, Ranboo-”

“I- wha- I can’t teleport!” Ranboo protested trying to shake Tommy off. “No one can, it’s been scientifically proven-”

“I don’t care! We’re stuck in a  _ time loop,  _ for god’s sake! Let’s  _ go! _ ”

“But- I- I don’t even know how I did it!”  
“Danger! Scary!” Tubbo said, waggling his fingers. “Think scary thoughts!”

“That’s not helping!”

_ Creak. _

Tommy and Tubbo froze. The door slid open a crack. 

White particles- ash? Floated through the air and into the shed. Tubbo coughed. 

Ranboo squeezed his eyes shut.  _ Come on, come on, teleport, teleport, teleport, teleport, teleport- _

“We could really use your magic powers now,” said Tommy seriously. He sounded frightened. 

_ Don’t fail now, teleport, teleport, teleport… _

Footsteps. Was it a tall, imposing figure wearing a boar mask? Holding a glowing sword? Were they going to die? 

Was he going to fail?

_ Teleport, teleport, teleport, they’re my friends, I won’t let you hurt them, teleport, teleport, teleport, come on, come on, don’t hurt them- _

Tubbo let out a squeak. Ranboo felt Tommy tighten his grip on his arm. 

_ Teleport, come on, you can do it, you HAVE to do it… _

_ Don’t hurt them, they’re mine- _

_ -they’re MY friends, mine mine mine mine minemineMINEMINEMINE- _

A sigh. 

“I knew you could do it, buddy.”

He did it? They were safe? Ranboo wanted to open his eyes, wanted to apologize for taking so long, but his eyelids refused to move. He was tired. He needed to sleep. Everything hurt- his legs, his arms, his head- as if he’d been run through a shredder. 

_ Ugh… _

He could hear Tommy and Tubbo murmuring quietly, and struggled to stay conscious. They were okay, right? He’d done it?

“The same place. Look at the trees.”

“Do you think he meant to take us here? Or if it’s another...time-y weird apocalypse thing?”

“This isn’t the apocalypse, Tubbo, the real apocalypse will be  _ much  _ cooler.”

“Well, anyway, I think this is a nice place. The air’s cleaner here.”

Ranboo agreed. He took a deep breath. Yes, it was nice. It smelled of earth and grass and something else, something like cinnamon. 

“We have longer before night. Do you think we’ll repeat today again?”

“I don’t fuckin’ know.”

“Come on, you have to give me  _ something.  _ We should explore.”

“Fine. But make sure Ranboo’s alright first. Or whatever.”

Ranboo felt his hair being brushed back from his forehead. “Hey, Ranboo. You doing okay? Or do you want to sleep?”

“Mmph,” Ranboo replied. Sleep sounded nice, but...he needed to be there for his friends. What if they ran into trouble and he had to teleport them out again? Could he even do it? He felt pretty drained. 

He dragged himself off of the ground, grunting as his shoulders popped. “‘M fine. Just tired.”

Tubbo was grinning at him, eyes shining. “This is awesome.”

“How…?” Ranboo questioned, bewildered. They were stuck in a time loop with someone trying to kill them, and they had no way out. How was it awesome?

“You literally have  _ magic powers, _ ” Tubbo said, excitedly. “That’s amazing!”

“Yeah, well,” Ranboo replied, rubbing his arms uncomfortably. “For all we know it could be the result of a science experiment gone wrong or something.”

“Maybe that’s why you’re so freakishly tall,” Tommy called over his shoulder. He looked to be preparing to scale a tree. Ranboo bristled.

“I’ll have you know that this is  _ perfectly natural.  _ You’re just short.”

“Wanna come up here and say it to my face, Mr. Teleportation?”

“That sounds like a good band name,” Tubbo piped up. Whether it was a genuine thought or a statement to diffuse any tension, Ranboo didn’t know. “‘Mr. Teleportation and the Boar People.’”

Ranboo snorted. “Maybe. Though I think only a select few would wear any merchandise from a band with that name.”

“Who says they have to have merch? Maybe they’re an underground band that-”

“Guys,” said Tommy. He was pretty high up in the tree, now, and Ranboo could barely make out the white and red of his shirt through the branches. “You might want to come see this.”

Ranboo followed Tubbo, watching him dart through the foliage like some kind of acrobat. He didn’t have as much talent climbing trees as his friends, that was for sure- his clumsiness combined with his long limbs didn’t really help him with coordination of any kind.

Once he’d finally (finally) reached the relatively thick branch Tommy and Tubbo were crouched on, he felt as if he were drooping. 

There was absolutely  _ nothing. _

Not nothing, of course- there were trees. A whole lot of trees. But not much else. The forest spanned for miles, all the way to the horizon. There weren’t even any clearings like the one Ranboo had teleported to- that was still weird to think- just then. 

“So it’s a dead end,” Ranboo sighed. It would take at least a month for the trio to make a substantial amount of progress into the forest, and they didn’t  _ have  _ a month. All they had was a day. 

“Not necessarily,” said Tommy, pointing. Ranboo squinted. Was that...a building? It looked to be made of wood, but then again, his eyesight wasn’t the best-

“It’s a treehouse!” exclaimed Tubbo. “Do you think we can make it in time? Before everything resets?”

“It’s pretty far,” said Tommy. “Ranboo…?”

“I...don’t think I can teleport more than once a day, at least for now,” he replied. “I’m still really-” he yawned. “-tired.”

But Tommy and Tubbo were staring at him, mixtures of curiosity and surprise painted over their features. 

“...What?”

“Open your mouth again, Ranboo,” Tommy whispered. Ranboo complied. Tommy’s eyes widened. “Ranboo, you’ve got-- holy shit-- you’ve got-”

“Fangs!” said Tubbo, peering closer at Ranboo’s open mouth. He shut it with a snap. Fangs? That was ridiculous. How could he grow fangs when- 

He ran his tongue over his teeth. Had his canines always been that sharp? Those were-

“Ow!” 

Ranboo spat blood out onto the ground below. Maybe he did have fangs- they’d have to be sharp enough to pierce his tongue, after all. 

“How come Ranboo gets all the cool shit?” muttered Tommy. “I want fangs.”

“No you-” Ranboo spit more blood. “-don’t. Ow.” 

“Anyway,” said Tubbo. “We should try to get to the treehouse. It’s worth a try.”

“You think you can make it there, Ranboo?” Tommy asked. “It’s a ways away-”

“I can,” said Ranboo stubbornly. No way in hell he was going to hold his friends back now. He’d be fine. If he fell asleep he could bite himself again. 

He winced when he realized how messed up that sentence sounded, and ran his tongue over his fangs again.  _ Utterly crazy. _

“Let’s go, then,” said Tommy, jumping down from the tree. Ranboo did the same, grimacing at the jarring landing. “To the treehouse.”

\--

Leaning on Tubbo was nice. Probably not for Tubbo. But it was nice for him. 

Ranboo yawned.

How long had they been walking? It was dark, now. They hadn’t reached the treehouse. Would they ever reach the treehouse?

“Hold on,” Tommy whispered. Tubbo froze and Ranboo cracked an eye open. “I think…”

“What?” Tubbo responded. “What is it?”

“Do you hear that?”  
Ranboo listened. Crickets were chirping. Did Tommy mean the crickets? He was too tired for-

“ _ Look for the Eye.” _

“Weird,” Tubbo murmured. “Is that someone talking?”

“Huh?” said Ranboo. “You couldn’t hear it?”

“I heard it, but it just sounded like weird noises,” Tommy replied. “What, you can understand gibberish now, too?”

“What did they say, Ranboo?”

“They said ‘Look for the Eye,’” Ranboo told Tubbo. “But it definitely wasn’t in English.”

How had he been able to understand that? This was weird, so weird. Teleportation, fangs, and now this? And why was  _ he  _ the only one? Maybe Tubbo could grow horns or something, then he’d feel a bit more normal-

“ _ Hello. _ ”

“What was that?” Tommy shouted. A flock of birds flew out of a nearby tree, cawing their distaste. 

“Relax, they just said hello,” Ranboo reassured him. 

“Can you...try to speak back?” asked Tubbo. 

Could he? Theoretically, if he could understand the language, he should be able to…

“Hello,” Ranboo tried. Tommy shook his head. 

“English.”

_ Concentrate.  _ “Hello?”

“Still English.”

Ranboo furrowed his brow. “... _ Hello?” _

When he saw the looks on his friend’s faces, he knew it’d worked. They stood in silence, waiting for a reply. 

“ _ What’s up? _ ”

“ _ We are walking. Who- what are you? _ ” Ranboo couldn’t believe this. It was too much, all in one day, too much, and he just wanted to be  _ normal,  _ why couldn’t he be  _ normal- _

“ _ I am- _ ”

But then he was gone, spiraling through a tunnel of color and light and sound so fast he didn’t know what was up and what was down and where was Tommy? Where was Tubbo? 

Ranboo shut his eyes. In the morning, when he was stronger, they’d get out of here. Just one more day.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaand shit's goin down, folks. i want to hear your theories on who put our lovely trio in the time loop (¬ω¬)


End file.
